Coughlin, Shanahan face off in key NFC East showdown

LANDOVER, Md. — There are only three active coaches with multiple Super Bowl wins.

ART STAPLETON

LANDOVER, Md. — There are only three active coaches with multiple Super Bowl wins.

Two of them, Tom Coughlin and Mike Shanahan, will be on opposing sidelines for the second time this season Monday night when the Giants and Redskins play at FedEx Field.

While so much preseason hype in the NFC East focused on the Cowboys and the Eagles, it's the two head coaches with 126 years of life experience and NFL tenures seemingly just as long who have their teams in position to play meaningful games down the stretch.

Coughlin has six years on Shanahan, plus a two-game lead over Washington, as the Giants seek a regular-season sweep of the Redskins and a continuation of the dominance they showed following an impressive and stunning 38-10 victory over the Packers.

Two of the most successful coaches in NFL history have adapted to the times, albeit begrudgingly for quite some time.

Coughlin has become more of a players' coach in recent seasons, commanding the respect of his roster by instilling leadership in the locker room and providing them with a voice. Meanwhile, Shanahan has relinquished control of his offense — at least somewhat — by handing the reins to a wunderkind rookie quarterback named Robert Griffin III.

In reality, when it comes to doing what they have done best, teams coached by Coughlin and Shanahan rarely stray from what has worked.

Asked how far back he goes in studying film for tendencies of Shanahan-coached teams, Coughlin quipped earlier this week: "1996."

In other words, the season before Shanahan, John Elway and Co. won the first of back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver, and a season in which the Broncos led the NFL in offense.

Coughlin likely was only half-kidding — and maybe not at all, suggesting his team will leave no stone unturned in readying for Shanahan and the upstart Redskins, who have won their last two games by a combined score of 69-37.

Planning, preparation and hard work are the benchmarks of their legacies.

Above all else, with Coughlin and Shanahan, what you see is what you get — usually.

"You always put little wrinkles in here to give somebody problems, but at the end of the day, we understand that your players are going to find a way to win the football game," Shanahan said. "You want to make sure that whatever you do, they feel comfortable with it and you're just not changing to change. You might be doing something to give your team a little bit of an edge or a little bit of adjustment to help you from an X's and O's standpoint.

"You want to make sure that they believe in what you're doing and they can do it well."

Shanahan, 60, and Coughlin, 66, have three Super Bowl rings apiece: two as a head coach and another as an assistant. They trail only Patriots coach Bill Belichick (200) in career victories by an active coach (Shanahan 170, Coughlin 161).

As much as Washington has found a new identity with RGIII, rookie RB Alfred Morris and the option attack, Shanahan has put together quite an offensive library from which the Giants can study.

"They've always been a gadget team; they'll have something that they've utilized," Coughlin said. "They've done so in the past. You look at the Pittsburgh game, then the very next week there's RGIII running down the sideline with a ball thrown to him out of the backfield. Reverses off of different looks. Mike's always done that."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.